/. D. Hague on the Guano Islands of the Pacific Ocean. 237 



The position of these islands near the equator and their re- 

 moteness from any high land make them favorable places for 

 studying the meteorology of this region. The equatorial cur- 

 rent is a matter of great interest. It has a general direction of 

 west southwest, and runs with a great velocity, sometimes ex- 

 ceeding two knots per hour, and, at times, suddenly changing 

 and running quite as rapidly to the eastward. 



During the winter months there are days when the swell is 

 very heavy, and the surf breaks violently on the reefs, but in 

 ■summer there is little or no surf, and especially on the lee side 

 of the island, the water is very smooth. These periods in the 

 winter occur usually at intervals of a few days and prevail dur- 

 ing two or three and sometimes more days. In this connection 

 I may allude to the shifting sands at Baker's, which, as I ob- 

 served there, change their place twice in the year. The western 

 snore of the island trends nearly northeast and southwest; the 

 southern shore east by north. At their junction there is a spit 

 of sand extending out towards the southwest. During the sum- 

 iner the ocean swell, like the wind, comes from the southeast, to 

 the force of which the south side of the island is exposed, while 

 the western side is protected. In consequence the sands of the 

 beach that have been accumulating during the summer on the 

 south side are all washed around the southwest point, and are 

 heaped up on the western side, forming a plateau along the beach 

 two or three hundred feet wide, nearly covering the shore platform, 

 and eight or ten feet deep. With October and November comes 

 the winter swell from northeast, which sweeps along the western 

 shore and from the force of which the south side is in its turn pro- 

 tected. Then the sand begins to travel from the western to the 

 southern side, and after a month or two nothing remains of the 

 gi'eat sand plateau but a narrow strip, while on the south side 

 the beach has been extended 200 or 300 feet. This lasts until 

 -February or March when the operation is repeated. 



■Birds, e^c— From fifteen to twenty varieties of birds may be 

 ^distinguished among those frequenting the island of which the 

 principal are Gannets and Boobies, Frigate Birds, Tropic Birds, 

 Tern, Noddies, Petrels, and some game birds as the Curlew, 

 ^nipeand Plover. Of terns there are several varieties. Ihe 

 ttjost numerously represented is what I believe to be the Sterna 

 ^irundo. These frequent the island twice in the year for the 

 purpose of breeding. They rest on the ground, making no nests 

 ^ut selecting tufts of grass, where such may be found, under 

 ^hich to lay their eggs. I have seen acres of ground thus 

 tt'ckly covered by these birds, whose numbers might be told by 

 ^^iHions. Between the breeding seasons they dimmish consid- 

 erably in numbers, though they never entirely desert the island^ 

 >y are expert fiLhei^ and venture far out to sea m quest of 

 Pfey. The Noddies (Sterna stolida) are also very i 



